Archive for the ‘Teaching low levels’ Category

No, not TEFLtastic- Toyota. Now that Toyota is top of the world, it seems all some analysts can see is the inevitable decline. Understandable in a way, but it is not as if the Japanese gave up their number one position in most other products in a hurry, so after quickly consulting my dartboard I’d say Toyota shares are a buy.

So as the Japanese are number one in cars, video game machines, animation etc. etc, why not English? It is understandable that the immense differences in the vocabulary, writing systems, grammar and pronunciation of the languages makes it a lot harder than switching from English to Dutch- but why at least haven’t they come up with a language learning method that helps them catch up with the same ease and convenience as a (Japanese-owned) 7-11?

Part of the reason for the lack of Japanese progress with English, despite millions of dollars spent on ALT*s and millions of books bought every year is actually connected to that convenience store thing- language learning does not lend itself to clever effort saving solutions in the same way as toilet technology. Another problem lies in those millions of books, as authors are judged the same way as salarymen and churning out books reliably is seen as the height of a writer’s skill. The main problem, though, is the one Toyota is facing- a lack of a clear goal where to go next.

Most Japanese students come into a language school classroom convinced by high school English lessons, impossibly obscure university entrance tests and the above named ungraded English learning books that they will never be able to communicate in any way in English. When they find out they can, they are so happy they don’t seem to know where to go next. As the Toyota article says: “What do you do when you pass a rabbit you’ve been chasing for 70 years?”

* ALT, Alien Language Teacher- a native speaking assistant teacher who helps give lessons in Junior High schools etc. Not to be confused with ALF, which is Alien Language Friend- someone who gives informal English conversation lessons in cafes.

Books I’ve been reading recently that I haven’t had time to review but would highly recommend (in no particular order):

Office Ladies and Salaried Men- Yuko Ogasawara (University of California Press). A real inside look on what goes on in Japanese offices between Japanese men and women. Surprising and fascinating.

Getting Wet- Eric Talmadge (Kodansha). More than you wanted to know about Japanese people getting hot and naked in onsen- it all starts to make sense after reading this.

Pre-school in Three Cultures- Tobin, Wu and Davidson. Unusual conclusions and unusual way of reaching them, interesting for those who have no contact with Kindergartens in either China, Japan or the US too.

See page on the right for many many more mini, and not so mini-, reviews.

Am I right? Am I out-of-date? Comments here please

“…teachers who have been told that their students are ‘high achievers’ (even if they are not) tend to get the kind of results associated with high achievement”. Scott Thornbury in An A-Z of ELT (Macmillan)- a very readable and accessible book 

Any comments? Any at all?? Go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on

If there is one group of students who usually need to be warmed up before you can get going and almost always appreciate your efforts to do so, it is low level adults. Teenagers and higher level students can need to be convinced that a game is not a waste of time or childish and sometimes need easing into fun stuff slowly and with clear justifications, but lower level adults need to and want to start with a bang.

Despite the low level of language Beginner and Elementary students can produce and therefore sometimes the juvenile level that humour etc. in English can be reduced to, they will not necessarily appreciate you bringing in the beach balls etc. that you could use to liven up the simple syllabus with younger kids (although sometimes they do!). The trick, then, is to find sit down games you can play with little language and basic instructions and using the same or similar language week after week. Below are some suggestions of warmers you can use with the Simple Past, which should also give you ideas for similar activities you can fit into the language you are covering now.

Simple Simple Past Warmer 1: Guess when

After a brief “How was your week/ weekend?” chat, during which you elicit and write the days and dates on the board, tell the class one thing you did on one of those days. They must repeat the sentence back, but with “you” and their guess of which day you did it, eg. “You had a picnic on Sunday”. They then continue in pairs or threes.

The same game can also be played with months, years, ages etc. in the past- maybe in future weeks as more grammar such as ‘ago’ is introduced

Simple Simple Past Warmer 2: Then make the story of my life

Moving on from general chat (if possible), ask one of the students what time they got up on Saturday and get them to give a whole sentence reply. Try to guess their next action on that day (”Next/ then you had a shower”) and get them to tell you if that is really what they did next (”Yes, that’s right” or “No, I didn’t. Next I made a cup of tea”). Ask the class to guess later stages of that student’s day. Continue in pairs.

Simple Simple Past Warmer 3: Irregular tennis

In teams, students take turns ’serving’ with infinitive forms (go, do, want) and ‘returning’ with the simple past form. Mime the ball going backwards and forwards across the classroom to speed their responses up. Score as per tennis, but perhaps changing service after every point rather than every game.

Can also be done with scoring of other sports, such as volleyball, or even with a real beach ball.

There are many more just for this one grammar point, but it might be more useful to give the points that a good warmer has to have:

1. Links naturally into the chat etc. at the beginning of the class or has a prop, novelty value etc. that suddenly gets students’ attention.

2. Is easy to explain, or even better can just be demonstrated

3. Can be made as short as 5 minutes but extended if needed

4. Is fun

5. Uses the target language and/ or language from last week

6. Does not ask too much of students in terms of creativity or language while they are not yet warmed up
Any more warmers for this grammar point? Any classics for other grammar points? Any requests? Comment below: